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If you only do one thing this weekend … get spiritualised

Laurence Mackin

Jazz: Quality acts in intriguing spaces often make for stand-out gig moments, the kind of nights that you can spend the rest of the year gloating about to your friends that missed out on them. This weekend there are a few to choose from, but I reckon Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble might have the somewhat spiritual edge. This collaboration, who sold a stunning 1.5 million units of their debut album in 1995 (stunning in the sense that it was a niche offering on the exquisite ECM label, and Garbarek expected it to sell a few hundred copies), will be playing St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin and North Cathedral in Cork, using no amplification beyond the sound of the Hilliard’s four-piece vocals and Garbarek’s saxophone. Previous reviews of these concerts have been off the scale, and I’ve an interview with Garbarek in tomorrow’s Irish Times. Click here for details.

Music: Another intriguing offering is the jam-packed line-up on Sunday night for Young Hearts Run Free’s concert, as part of Dublin Contemporary. Dónal Lunny, Paddy Glackin, Adrian Crowley, Spook of the 13th Lock, Niamh McCormack, Seeping into Cinemas, The Dying Seconds, Patrick Kelleher and others will all squeeze into the Office of Non-Compliance. It costs a preposterous €5, it is first come, first served, with doors closing at 7:15pm sharp. There will be warm cider, cake and fairy lights, and all proceeds will go to the Simon Community. Shiny goodness. Click here for more details.

Cinema: And from fairy lights to darkness we go, this time of a cinematic variety. This weekend the Darklight festival brings a grass-roots theme to proceedings. There are several programming strands, including New Indie Voices, Spotlight on Docs, SFX Unplugged, 3-DIY and Artist in Focus, and it all takes place in the post-industrial warehouse space of the Factory in Dublin’s Grand Canal Dock. One of the more interesting elements is a series of travel guide films made by Vice including the Vice Guide to Congo, the Vice Guide to the Rebels of Libya, and the Vice Guide to Belfast. Here’s a taster to get your head around, big mawn.

Opera: Venues don’t come much classier than the new Wexford Opera House, which will be alive to the sounds of this year’s Wexford Festival Opera over the next few weeks. Tomorrow night (Friday) sees the all-but-forgotten La Cour de Célimène brought back to life, while on Saturday the Polish classic Maria will be performed for the first time outside of Poland. Click here for more details, and head over here for Andrew Johnstone’s intriguing look at how the festival is evolving its ethos (with plenty more on both those productions), from today’s paper.